Gilbert Temple Groundbreaking

What an amazing incredible day! Today Elder Costa of the Seventy broke ground here in our very own Gilbert for a TEMPLE! We are so thrilled. We were able to get seats pretty close to the ceremony (6th row!). The girls had already hit the stake preparedness fair and breakfast and Gilbert Days Parade, so they were worn out! Grandma Terri came and sat with us too. It was an amazing day filled with the spirit! We are so blessed to have this opportunity in our own town. I pray my girls will always feel that this temple is their very own! At the end, the girls got to hold one of the "golden shovels" used in the ceremony. I took pictures (amidst the mob of patient parents waiting for their child's turn). After were were out of the craziness and walking to the car, Kate very sadly exclaimed that she only had time for the picture and didn't even get a chance to dig! I told her not to worry, that I'm sure some dirt got moved around when she picked up the shovel. What a great experience for these little girls. I loved it!

Here is our family at the temple site.



These are all the current stake president's in Gilbert turning the dirt.



Here is Beth doing her turn.



And Sophia...



And Kate!

Gilbert Days

My sweet husband loves to bring the girls to Gilbert Days Parade. This year it was on the same day as the Gilbert Temple Groundbreaking. Dave still managed to squeeze it in! Grandpa Mat is always the horse coordinator for the parade. Check out these pictures and see if you can tell who is having more fun - the girls, or grandpa!

Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Vet's Day! Grandpa Mat came over early and invited our girls to ride in the "Veteran's Day Parade". Hopping excitedly onto the trailer, the girls soon discovered that the parade was around the neighborhood! Yelling "Happy Veteran's Day" and parade waving was fun anyway. The flag in the front yard was a great addition to the lawnmower....

After the parade we hit the trail hiking Phoenix's South Mountain "Mormon Loop" trail. We got clear to "Fat Man's Pass". The girls loved, then hated, then loved it. It was probably one of the more difficult hikes we have done with them! At the end, Sophia told Dave, "Dad, please let's not camp ever again!" She's a cutie.

We are so grateful for all the veterans who have served for us - and those still serving!

Halloween at the Votaws

A princess, a princess, and an army chick. I love my girls!Dave and I ventured into the bounty hunter's world. I think Beth was WAY more excited about these costumes than even Dave was (and he was excited- really!).My good friends dressed completely wholesome. You'd think I'd get with the program...

Happy Halloween from the Votaws!

Gila Valley Temple Open House

At 2pm today I realized that it was half day for Beth. (She got out at 1:30). Then I decided to get in the car and drive my three kids to Safford, AZ for the temple open house going on this week. Mapquest sucks. It said it would take 2 hours 27 mins to get there. It obviously did not factor in three potty stops (one of which was in the dirt on the side of the road - in dresses!), gas, and a pizza from little ceasars on the way. Oh, and Sophia screaming that her tummy hurt the whole way. (I think she has a bug. Yuck. Triple yuck to the Circle K in Superior. I will NEVER go there again. - The rocks on the side of the road were WAY cleaner.) So we just got home at 10 pm. I'm praying they'll sleep in until 6:30 tomorrow. Who am I kidding?
Upside was that my kids are thinking lots about the temple. I can't believe that I was a teenager before I ever got to go in a temple. And Sophia at 2 has been inside 2 open houses. Super cool. The only really odd question I got out of them was when Kate wanted to know if you go into the temple with your baby after you have, or while you're having it. Nope, no delivery rooms on the temple tour...

The final bonus is that since we booked our tickets to Boston in November to visit Lynz, I'm thinking we might be able to really do the Macy's Day Parade. We're just building stamina here, people. :)

Busy Busy - We're not even in May!

So we've been plenty busy around here. Our neighbors has a garage sale and the girls decided to sell my hard earned sugar cookies.
The girls saw the butterflies at the Botanical Gardens. Kate went around with the guide book identifying each one. She was a SERIOUS butterfly hunter. Also, Dave wore his gardening hat. $2 from a walmart - and he's making such a fashion statement! I should be grateful that he doesn't want to die from skin cancer. :)





Oh, and Sophia has decided that she is the family photographer. She only took 300 pictures since my last download of pics. Such a cutie. Here is one of her pieces. She takes a lot of shots of the ground. Oh, and people's bottoms. I really didn't want to know what mine looked like from her angle...


Zoey met Cobra Bubbles. Cobra charges. Zoeys runs away. Pretty awesome nature show in our own back yard.
The girls chose and decorated their own flip flops. I could do art projects all day long around here with these three.
Here's Kate and her friend Edynne at the zoo. Preschool fields trips make the zoo fun - and affordable. :)




Kate performed in her "Video Killed the Radio Star" dance performance. She was a ROCKSTAR! Dave contributed some mad dancing genes to this one. Makes me feel coordinated just by association. :) I will say, I got to contribute the tutu. I was SO grateful Kate is less picky than I was as a kid. Anything my mom ever sewed for me I would cry about and say it didn't fit. Kate didn't care about fit here - she just loved that it was PINK.

Hmm... Am I back?

Just thought I'd insert some pics form the last little bit. I can't seem to commit to blogging. But at least it will update the out of towners :)

Beth turned 7, got her ears pierced, got new glasses, and (finally) got the dog she's been asking for for the last 7 years. Thank you, Grammy. She is small, she is black and she is exactly what Beth wanted. (On the plus side, I talked Beth and Kate out of naming her Hannah or ICarly - her name is Zoey).

We got to spend lots of time with Evi and Micah. My kids are going to cry for a long time when they move to Harvard!
We hiked to the Wind Caves. I think in our life with kids we have begun this hike at least three times before. Hallelujah for the age progression of children. We finally made it. And they loved it. If I'm correct, it is either 4 or 5 miles round trip. They are awesome kids.
Beth had Dr. Seuss dress up day at school. She told me she wanted to be Suzi Loo-Who (I can't even remember her name exactly). I did my best...